From Doodling To MindMapping

Today’s blog post contribution is from Paul Telling, a professional artist and MindMapping expert. I asked him to share his insights and ideas about MindMapping to help you get better grades in school. This is the first in a series we’ll be publishing on this blog it’s in support of a new program we just launched called How To MindMap To Get Better Grades. You can click on the hyperlink to access the program information page.

Hi, Paul Telling here – I thought I would share with you my story of how I caught onto MindMapping along my educational journey.

I have always been interested in school and learning. Although at school it can be hard when you think you have all the answers and the teachers are slowing you down. Or the reverse might be true – you struggle to learn as you just don’t get what the teacher’s on about.

Well I had both happen during my high school years. I was interested in art, computing studies and maths while I struggled in English and physics. I managed to get into university doing a degree in Industrial Design.

Studying at university was where I learned to doodle in my sketchbook – all day long. Of course during design classes but also in classes that I was meant to be taking notes. If I found the lectures boring, I would draw a caricature of the lecturer and this got a lot of laughs from my classmates.

Some of my classmates just thought I was weird because I tended to spend more time drawing things than taking linear notes verbatim. My pages of notes were eighty percent pictures and less than twenty percent text.

Little did I know that this was MindMapping!

We all have a tendency to doodle while on the phone, during lectures especially in maths or science class! Doodling is the sub conscious working in its own visual language to learn the content you’re grappling with to help you remember stuff more easily. Doodles are visual elements trying to get linked up in your brain.

The amazing thins is that I can still remember many of ,my lecture notes from when I was a design student. I can still picture most of them in my mind’s eye even though that was more than 6 years ago.

Back then I didn’t know what I was doing. Over time, I have learned the different skills required to MindMap more effectively. I value this skill as something that helps me learn quickly the first time, every time.

Luckily, I now have the chance to teach you this wonderful skill of MindMapping through the video course I created with Dr Marc Dussault.

When you take the How To MindMap To Get Better Grades Video Program, you will turn, in two hours, learn to turn your doodles into cool, colourful MindMaps that will help you remember and recall more than ever before. Your classmates will think you’re a genius.

I hope you get your hands on the course sooner rather than later so you can start to improve your grades as of the very next test, quiz or exam that’s coming up.

I look forward to sharing more insights with you in future blog posts.

Visually yours,

Paul Telling

2 Responses to “From Doodling To MindMapping”


  • Thanks for sharing this story Paul,

    It is good to know how people come to realise that they have something special or unique to offer. I have come to the conclusion that we all underestimate the significance of both our strengths and weaknesses.

    I am an Electronics Designer and Embedded Software Developer and it was quite a while before I realised how much better at this I was than most of my colleagues. It seemed obvious to me how to go about it and I didn’t appreciate that this was unusual. Having come to understand this, I am now able to show others how to do what I always thought they already did.

    I checked out you Your Tube channel and that is pretty cool as well.

    Ray Keefe
    Successful Endeavours Pty Ltd
    Casey Business of the Year 2010
    Award Winning Electronics Design and Embedded Software Development

  • I am a huge doodler, and I see how that could lend itself right into better note taking if I made the doodles more subject appropriate. Great story and testimonial. I love hearing when all these techniques have helped otehr ebcome successful!

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